New Delhi: High-flying Delhi Waveriders continued their unbeaten run in the inaugural Hockey India League as they thrashed Jaypee Punjab Warriors 3-0 in a round-robin match thereby ensuring a place in the last four of the cash-rich championship.

The Waveriders scored through Akashdeep Singh (14), Kiwi Andrew Hayward (52) and Simon Child (70th) to consolidate their position at the top of the league standings with 32 points from seven matches.

Irrespective of the loss, the Warriors continue to occupy the third spot in the points table with 21 points from eight games, behind second-placed Ranchi Rhinos (27).

As expected, the match started on a fast note and it was the Punjab outfit which dominated the early exchanges before the Waveriders started the catch up game successfully.

Dharamvir Singh got the first real scoring chance of the match in the sixth minute but his fierce shot from the right of the circle went wide.

After sitting back for the first 10 minutes, the Waveriders started to seize the initiative and earned their first penalty corner in the 12th minute which was wasted as the ball wasn't stopped properly.

However, the Waveriders surged ahead two minutes later when Akashdeep scored with a stunning reverse hit after beating a couple of Punjab defenders inside the circle.

The Warriors got a golden opportunity to equalize in the 23rd minute but an unmarked S V Sunil shot wide after he was fed from the right flank by a beautiful one-two from Jamie Dwyer and Robert Hammond.

The Punjab side must also thank their alert Dutch custodian Jaap Stockmann who kept a clean slate in the opening half as he denied Delhi on at least two occasions in the last 10 minutes of the second quarter.

Both the teams started on a cautious note after the change of ends and were more focused on keeping the ball in their possession.